Dumping final pay in driveway leads to even bigger FLSA penalties.

Don't tick off the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. That's the lesson learned the hard way by A OK Walker Autoworks of Peachtree City, Ga. The company made news in 2021 when a former employee complained to the DOL that he hadn't received his final wages when he quit.

The repair shop owner heard about the complaint and promptly paid the man $915--with 91,500 oil-covered pennies dumped in his driveway. The man was not amused, and neither were federal investigators.

In January 2022, the WHD charged the owner with violating the anti-retaliation provisions of the Fair Labor...